Genius
by Kenshin Akagi
Summary: Neji cared for Naruto more than anyone knew. "Because you called me a Genius," He had said as he died. But what if there was more to it than that? Onesided Neji/Naruto. Oneshot.


Neji Hyuga was many things. A Slave. A Prodigy. He had seen the evil of the Main Branch firsthand, when they took his father as a sacrifice. He had hated the fact his father was sacrificed for the life of his uncle, all because he was a member of the branch family. He had resigned himself to the Fate of serving the Main family, but he always fought it in any way he could.

He held hatred for his cousin, Hinata. She was the reason his father was killed, but she continued to stay blissfully ignorant of that fact, ignorant of his suffering. She was the heiress of the Main Branch, and Neji probably wouldn't have hated her so much if she wasn't so weak. It ate at him constantly, the fact that he was forced to serve a weakling like her.

He had finally struck a blow against the Main Branch during the Chunin Exam Preliminaries, taking out their precious heiress, showing her weakness to her entire generation of fellow Konoha Shinobi. It was his way of revenge, to prove the Main Branch was not stronger than the Branch family, that the Fate of one's birth didn't determine anything. Neji had fought her, humiliated her, to show her Fate of being a weakling, never realizing that by doing so he was fighting _his _Fate of being a weak Branch member, always serving.

That was when he met him. The Uzumaki boy. Naruto. The troublemaker. Neji scoffed at him at the time, calling him a failure and a weakling. The Uzumaki had merely stood there, wiped his hand in Hinata's blood and had sworn to defeat Neji. Neji had passed it off as mere bluffing, a vain attempt to fight one's Fate.

He had trained to the best of his abilities that month, swearing to himself that he wouldn't lose to the Uzumaki kid. He had mastered the Heavenly Rotation technique, only passed down through the Main Branch, by simple observation. He had complete faith in his abilities, complete faith that it was his Fate to win the fight.

The fight had started, and the Uzumaki was making a fool of himself, summoning Shadow Clone after Shadow Clone. Neji easily destroyed them, actually disappointed that it was so easy. He had shown off the Heavenly Rotation to the crowd, proving to the _world_ that he was better than the Main Branch, that he was a _prodigy. _A _Genius._

He had used the Eight Trigams Sixty Four Palm technique on Naruto, believing that was the end of it...until The Uzumaki had somehow defied Fate, activated his chakra, and defeated Neji. And as the Hyuga lied on the ground, the Uzumaki had said something he couldn't get out of his head.

_"When I become Hokage, I will change the Hyuga."_

Neji had thought about that statement for the rest of the week, just _thinking, _barely acknowledging his uncle's apology for the death of his father. The Uzumaki was a mystery to him. He had searched for whatever he could, even discovering that Hinata had a crush on the blonde, something that she mistook for love.

And when the Uchiha had fled the village, Neji had volunteered to go. He knew how important the Uchiha was to Naruto, his teammate and best friend; He had wanted to repay the favor. Naruto had broken him out of his obsession with Fate and had granted him happiness, and so Neji would save his friend.

He had fought the spider ninja, Kidomaru, and was shocked when the Sound ninja discovered the blind spot of the Byakugan. The old Neji would have resigned himself to Fate, and would have accepted death, but this Neji wouldn't. He had sworn to save Sasuke, to bring Naruto happiness, and he continued to fight, finally slaying the Sound ninja.

He was put in the hospital, near death, but when he started walking to the light, he had remembered Naruto's declaration to change the way of the Hyuga, to become Hokage. And he had wanted to stay by his side, and so he had forced himself to hang on, until the light had faded and he awoke.

He had trained as hard as he could, promising himself to help Naruto to become Hokage. He had even helped his cousin train, in the hopes that they could lay the foundation for bringing the split clan together again.

It took two and a half years before Naruto came back, and Neji had become a Jonin. He was proud of it, proud that he had the strength to help Naruto. When Naruto had called him a genius, it was the happiest moment of his life. A strange feeling had swelled up inside him. He enjoyed it, and it always seemed to swell when he looked at Naruto, saw his determination.

He had cursed himself quite heavily during the Invasion of Pain, being too late to help Naruto fight The Akatsuki Leader. When Naruto had went off to confront Pein, Neji had wanted to go with him, to _help _him, but was denied. He felt even worse when he discovered Hinata had confessed her love for Naruto, and a feeling had swelled inside him directed solely at the heiress, a feeling he would later realize was jealously.

He had felt relieved when he heard that Naruto had never confronted Hinata over her confession. Hopefully, and Neji hated himself for thinking this, Naruto had rejected her.

And than the Fourth Great Shinobi War hit.

Neji had known of Naruto's status as a Jinchuuriki, but was quite surprised to hear that the Akatsuki were willing to declare war on all five nations in order to get him. Neji was hating himself for siding with the village that had led to the death of his father, but it was for Naruto. Neji had fought the strange army of Zetsu, alongside his family, to protect the man who had given him hope.

When the Juubi was revived, and was destroying the Aliied Shinobi Forces, Neji had fought as hard as he could. When the Juubi had shot hundreds of wooden branches towards the army, Neji had dodged them all, until he saw one going straight for Naruto, and Neji could tell that Naruto was too tired to stop it, and Hinata wouldn't be able to stop it from hitting Naruto even at the cost her life...

Neji didn't know what came over him as he jumped in the way of the branch, feeling his internal organs get pierced, watching as his cousin and the man he lo...admired cried over him.

_'"Why?" Naruto had asked, looking down at him. Neji smiled at him._

'Because I loved you...' _Neji had thought in his head. but he knew that such a declaration would just cause Naruto more pain than he was already in. "Because you called me a Genius."'_

Neji had smiled as he died. He had known, deep down, that not even he could defy Fate enough to get Naruto to love him. Better to have died, protecting the man he loved, than live and suffer each day, watching his cousin get closer and closer to his heart.

It was better this way, Neji knew that. He was a Genius, after all. Naruto had said so himself.


End file.
